Tiruvannamalai Tourism | Pancha Bhoota Temple

Located on the foothills of Annamalai hills, Tiruvannamalai has been under the regular control of Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Hoysalas and to the British at last. But the prominent thing is that it served as the capital city of the Hoysalas. The city is made around the Annamalaiyar temple like other Nayak capitals. The known history of this place starts from the early Chola period of Aditya I and Parantaka I of 1000 AD, when the Chola empire concentrated northwards to expand their territory. From Parantaka I till Rajendra I, the rule of Chola Empire is not confirmed by inscriptions from this temple, possibly on account of the Rashtrakuta invasions and change over of the dynasty to king Krishna III. Cholas had a tough task to get back this place and succeeded towards the reign of Rajaraja I approximately AD 1014. While the rule of Rajendra I over this area is noticed by their inscriptions, once again a long gap of over hundred years is indicated by the absence of any Chola inscriptions till the beginning of Kulottunga III rule (AD 1183). Enormous activities were carried out during the period of Kulottunga III and Rajaraja III. Pandiyan rulers such as Jatavarman Srivallabha and Tribhuvana Chakravartin Kulasekhara in the 13th century AD had a brief supremacy over this region. The Hoysalas under Bhallaladeva of around AD 1340 also exercised sway over this area which was around 1300 AD. Vijayanagar emperors between 14th and 17th Centuries did fabulous contributions to maintain this temple. Following them, the Nayaks established their independent supremacy over this region. Under Shivappa Nayaka, they carried out large scale renovations. Mysore Wodeyars annexed this region for some time, which eventually went on to British empire later.